Thursday, May 13, 2010

Teacher's brutal attack on boy, 13, at U.S. school posted on YouTube

Shocking: Schoolteacher Sheri Davis has been fired after attacking 13-year-old pupil Isaiah Johnson in front of a his class

A schoolteacher has been fired after she brutally attacked a 13-year-old pupil in front of a classroom full of students, according to US reports.

Shocking video footage appears to show Sheri Davis dragging, kicking and slapping sixth grader Isaiah Johnson after squaring up to him as he cowered in a corner.

The alleged beating is thought to have lasted almost a minute and was filmed on a mobile phone by another pupils before being posted on YouTube.

Scroll down to watch the video

Unprofessional: Sheri Davis grabs hold of the pupil's T-shirt after she heard him and a girl in confrontation

Officials at Jamie's House Charter School, a centre for children with disciplinary issues in Houston, Texas, are reportedly 'horrified'.

The 40-year-old teacher has been sacked and bosses have apologised to the youngster and his furious mother, Alesha Johnson.

Police have been called in to investigate amid public outcry, which came after the video was obtained by Ms Johnson and aired on Houston's Fox News channel.

Some children can be heard laughing on the tape as Isaiah struggles to defend himself against the teacher.

'I was on the wall like this trying to get away from her and she started hitting me, banging my head to the wall and kicking me,' Isaiah said.

'The teachers piled up and they were looking over each others shoulders just watching.'

Cowering: The teacher approaches the 13-year-old before the attack

Dragging him across the floor: The teach attempts to pick Isaiah up with his trousers before smacking him around the head

Ms Johnson said her son had returned home with bruises on his face and a black eye that day.

'He said to me "Mum what would happen to a teacher that was beating on a kid?"' she said.

'I was like "why, what happened?" and he told me that a teacher jumped on him today.'I immediately called the school to find out what was going on.

'After it happened, he had wanted to call me and they would not let him call me.'Ms Johnson added: 'Most of the students had been taking a test and then they put them in an empty room.

'They were all dancing around, playing and they had music going and they were dancing.

'One of the girls told my son "Shut up, stop laughing at me or I'll punch you in the face".

'My son was jumping around saying "come on hit me then".

'The teacher saw him through the window and that's when she came in saying "You want to beat on little girls?" saying she should teach him a lesson.

Slapping attack: The alleged beating lasted almost a minute and was filmed on a mobile phone by another student before being posted on Youtube

Disgust: Officials at Jamie's House Charter School, a centre for children with disciplinary issues in Houston, Texas, have sacked the teacher and apologised to the youngster 'My son never touched the girl', she told Fox News. 'She just went in there straight after him.'

Teachers who attack are now being quizzed by school officials and could face disciplinary action.

Davis had reportedly worked at the school for three years and had no prior complaints against her.

Ms Johnson filed a complaint with Houston Police Department, but added that she was not satisfied with the school's response.

'The teacher who beat on my son has apologised,' she said.

'But I'm not satisfied. They (the school) have cameras in every room, they told me to come back in a couple of hours because they had to rewind the tapes to get back to that day.

'When they called me back they asked me to come to the school. I asked them if they saw what was going on in the classroom and they said that they couldn't see anything and they wanted me to come in. I never went.'

Harris County Sheriff's Office confirmed to Fox News that an investigation was under way, although no charges have been filed.

A statement school Principal David Jones said: 'Now that officials at Jamie's House Charter School have been able to review the video on Fox News, we are horrified at the actions of the teacher.

'There is no excuse for a teacher to behave in this way with a child. Although we had already removed the teacher from the classroom and put her on administrative duty, we now plan to terminate the teacher and make an apology to the student and his mother.

'In addition, the school will investigate whether other teachers witnessed this terrible incident and did not come forward to report it. Those teachers could be facing disciplinary action, as well.

'Educators are entrusted by parents with their children every day and we have a responsibility to see that they are not only taught but treated with respect.

'This incident violates every principle by which we operate Jamie's House Charter School.' [endtext]